1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to materials having elasticized portions and methods of making the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to absorbent garments, such as disposable diapers and adult incontinence garments, which include such materials and which are configured to absorb and contain body exudates and prevent leakage.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Elastic shirring of garments in selected regions is desirable or essential to conform the garment to the wearer""s body such as at the waist or leg. For example, conventional absorbent articles, such as disposable diapers, employ elasticized waistbands and leg cuffs to help conform the article to the wearer and reduce the leakage of body exudates. Some conventional absorbent articles have also included elasticized containment or barrier flaps at the leg or waist sections of the article to further reduce leaks.
It is know to activate the latent elastic portion of a diaper with microwave energy. Such activation is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,203, to Brandon et al., for flat web applications involving preconstructed, laid-open diapers. The teachings of the Brandon et al. patent, of common ownership herewith, are incorporated by reference to the extent necessary to derive an understanding of the present invention.
It is also known in the art to fold the preconstructed diaper in such a manner as to register its front and rear waist sections, or waist band areas, in order to seam them and provide a pull-on garment. Various applications by the assignee hereof have suggested registration of front and rear diaper sections in order to prefasten the fastening system of the diaper so that the diaper may be used as a pull-on garment when taken from the point of sale container and then later removed in the manner of a diaper.
Unfortunately, the folding registration of front and back panels required for these products is made extremely difficult due to straining of the material caused by activated elastics used to shirr the leg and waist openings. However, if the manufacturer does not activate the elastics before folding the latent elastics within the folds of the diaper, the problems of efficient heat activation of the latent elastics buried within the diaper are made difficult and are beyond the teachings of the known art. That is, if one attempts to activate latent elastic with the teachings of the known art, one will either not sufficiently activate the elastic, or will face the traditional problems of excess energy consumption, slow throughput and undesirable heating of the entire diaper.
Therefore, what is desired in the art is a method of manufacturing a folded diaper with latent elastics in the folded diaper and a way to thoroughly activate the latent elastics buried within the folded diaper quickly and economically.
In response to the difficulties and problems discussed above, a new method of manufacture for prefolded, separate diapers, and apparatus to accomplish such manufacture, have been developed.
The method comprises putting the desired latent elastic material onto the web of diaper material while the web is in the flat state, separating the individual diapers, folding each diaper in proper alignment and, in an illustrative embodiment, registering the fasteners, or front and rear panels, and fastening, or seaming, to create a waist band (collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cfasteningxe2x80x9d hereinafter for ease of usage), and subjecting the folded, and preferably fastened, diaper to highly focused high power microwave energy, (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cmicrowavingxe2x80x9d the folded diaper) to activate the latent elastic.